"Any time you play a team that's sound in a number of areas, it's cause for concern," said Scott Yates, coach of the top-ranked Kent Denver Sun Devils. "We certainly have a lot of respect for them."

Yes, there are plenty of players to fear when the two teams meet in Englewood in Saturday's semifinal round. Perhaps a season ending is the largest disturbance, though. The winner of Saturday's 1 p.m. game in Englewood will advance to play the winner of Saturday's No. 3 Bayfield-No. 7 Platte Valley game in the state championship.

Mark Buderus

Last year, Florence beat Bayfield in the title game.

Both teams are relatively healthy. Yates said in a phone interview with the Cañon City Daily Record on Tuesday that he anticipates his key players to be in the lineup. Florence is also expecting to have its starters ready.

For the Sun Devils, that's star sophomore Jaden Franklin. The speedy running back torched Florence in the teams' first meeting, a 41-6 Kent win. Franklin ran for 278 yards and four scores. Some of his longer runs came on toss plays to the outside before Franklin cut back across the field. Franklin's season total is 1,756 yards and 23 trips to the end zone.

The bread to Franklin's butter is senior fullback Brannon Jones. Jones has 600 yards as a bruising big man with seven touchdowns. Kent's quarterback is junior Joey Matarazzo who's completed 35 of his 91 passes for 861 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. Many of his passes are caught by Brian Boatman (14 catches, 236 yards, four touchdowns) and Matt Pettyjohn (13, 448, three).

Sun Devils running back Jaden Franklin is Kent Denver s main threat. He rushed for 278 yards and four touchdowns the first time Kent and Florence played. (Karl Gehring/The Denver Post )

"I think you worry about them all," Huskies defensive coordinator Jeremy Nix said. "Franklin is scary on the big plays. Jones is more power, but he can turn into a big play. Anymore their quarterback is pretty salty, he's gotten way better. Passing game's effective. They don't have a lot of weaknesses."

Florence has been led all season by its big three: Johnnie Krien, Zach Hoxie and Scott Sandoval. Krien's rushed for 1,343 yards on 178 carries, averaging 122 yards per game. He's scored 20 times. Sandoval has 905 yards and leads the team with 8.7 yards per carry. Hoxie has 860 on the season. Sandoval and Hoxie have 13 touchdowns each.

A few notes before Saturday's 1 p.m. semifinal game between No. 4 Florence and No. 1 Kent Denver at Justin DeSorrento Memorial Field in Englewood:

-- The Sun Devils beat the Huskies 41-6 on Sept. 7 this season. The Huskies were without quarterback Zach Hoxie in the game.

-- Huskies defensive coordinator Jeremy Nix summed it up by saying that the Huskies want to play this game. As they seek revenge for the big loss, Florence has watched tons of film. On Thursday, Clayton Benesch put his head down and shook it side to side. When Nix asked why, Benesch said he didn't like watching his performance in that game.

-- Because of all the film study, the defense feels confident it's made several fixes to better compete, among other things, play calls, Nix said.

-- One of the major differences between Florence and Kent Denver is that most Sun Devils players play offense and defense, while very few Huskies go both ways. This was critical in the Huskies' two wins against Kent last season. In the first game, Florence rallied for a 35-20 win after an hour-long thunder break. In the Huskies' semifinal win, they pulled away late for a 52-35 win.